


Behind the Mask

by kangeiko



Series: Babylon 5 poetry collection (my early fic) [9]
Category: Babylon 5
Genre: Gen, Poetry, my early fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1998-10-04
Updated: 1998-10-04
Packaged: 2017-10-09 22:04:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/92091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kangeiko/pseuds/kangeiko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ivanova poem.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Behind the Mask

I am not young, nor old.  
This game I will neither win, nor lose -  
I shall not call your bluff, yet you shall fold.

I am neither in love nor out of it  
Neither in hate nor gripped without  
I am not feared or fearful -  
I have no substance and no form.

I have no heavy dark hair to fall on my brow  
I have no brow for it to fall on  
I have no clear skin to scent with apricots and roses -  
I have no skin at all  
No eyes to shine, my dear,  
No feet for you to trip and watch me fall.

I have no heart, no spleen, no backbone and no brain.  
I have no bones, no ribcage and no breast  
I have no feeling, thoughts, sensation, and no pain.  
Because I have no substance, see,  
I have no form for you to put to test.

I have no emotional attachment to this place  
I have no thought as to what this place may be  
I have no cuts to mark my way,  
Faded scars seeped into the skin,  
Yet I have left no marks to help remember me.

I have no hands, no oval nails to glance at  
No lips to kiss, no smile to coax out  
There is no me, here, let's be frank,  
I have no form, no smile, no frown,  
No tongue to lick my lips, and I have no teasing pout.

I am merely chaos, bound in well-seeming forms,  
The serious vanity clung tight to the breast.  
I am what I have always been -  
The anger you can call on,  
The devil buried deep and only summoned at your behest.

Do not be frightened of me,  
I beseech you.  
I am not here - like all the shadows, I shall melt away.  
Do not be frightened for me, let me teach you  
Everything I know - and then you too shall find the way.

I have neither form nor substance.  
No feelings or thoughts. I am the embodiment of your anger, my dear,  
All your uncertainties for you to behold.  
I shall not smile ruefully, I cannot weep or mourn  
Because I have no form or substance, darling,  
Except what I can wrest from you to make my own.

*

fin


End file.
